Why It Matters

Government transparency is essential to holding all officials accountable. Since 2009, Federal Regulations have stated that emails shall be preserved as part of an agency’s record keeping system. While the use of a personal email account, in itself, is not illegal, utilizing your personal account for business purposes raises red flags. Furthermore, the use of personal email accounts to conduct government work can make auditing difficult; an essential right for citizens of the United States.

A House select committee investigating the 2012 attack in Benghazi that killed four U.S. Diplomatic Mission workers is especially interested in Clinton’s emails. Several weeks ago, the State Department turned over approximately 300 of Clinton’s emails to the committee.

An amendment to the Federal Records Act, signed into law by President Obama in November, requires that when emails relating to official government business are sent from a personal account, they must be forwarded to an official email account in 20 days or less. A 2013 National Archives bulletin states that federal employees usually should not use personal email accounts for official business. Clinton had left office by the time of the amendment and bulletin.

Opinion One

Clinton’s spokesman said she complied with both the letter and spirit of the rules and that use of her personal email account was acceptable. He said that like previous secretaries of state, she used her personal account when communicating with other State Department officials. For government business, Clinton used State Department accounts and assumed that communications would be retained, the spokesman noted.

Opinion Two

Several Republicans criticized Clinton’s use of personal email for official business, saying it raises questions about what Clinton might be trying to hide. Likely Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush said that “transparency matters” and that Clinton should release any unclassified emails.